CSU alumni contribute to a thriving society

Thursday 30 Mar 2017

A Charles
Sturt University (CSU) alumnus is urging leadership in schools on the use of
social media to ensure the medium builds,
engages and celebrates communities.

In
the latest edition of the CSU alumni magazine Thrive, Mr Peter Sutton outlines his journey through studying
education at CSU to social media adviser/consultant and co-author of the 2016 book,
Social Remediation.

The
book, co-authored with his late friend and journalist Mr Andrew Hughes, follows
five years of work with schools around the world to take social media out of
marketing and promotion.

"Social
media should not be delegated to a beginning teacher and schools must,
'own the space, participate or others will participate for you – and without
you.'

"Social
media in schools can be brutal and it needs a different approach to sales
and marketing.

"Like
the flick of a match, the light touch of a finger across a screen can send
a raging, reputational online bushfire on its way.

"However,
it can also build conversational bridges among the busy lives of
parents where the risk is minimal."

Mr
Sutton has outlined 10
steps for schools to undertake to truly embrace social media from the top
including putting it on the school leadership agenda as a permanent fixture, an
audit of all school communications, and drawing on the expertise of teachers, administrators
and students.

He
says the proper use of social media in schools needs leaders, planning,
financial resources and integration with other forms of school communication.